While in the midst of booster repair, I finally tackled the "lack of a parking brake" issue.

I found that the previous owner had loosened the cables next to the frame on the driver side, to allow room for a cheap nerf bar. the cable goes from one to a splitter with an adjusutable rod to the two for the wheels. I took the nerf bar off (usless and about to fall off), tightend the cable and stepped on the p-brake pedal, the problem now is that the splitter goes cockeyed and the threaded rod points up and hits the upper cable, I assume this is wrong? is there supposed to be a retainer of some sort to allow the cables to remain straight?

Anybody have any pics of this or experience with this issue?

Thanks.

 

mine does the same thing. i'm missing a retainer clip in my left rear drum for that parking brake cable. that's all according to the guy who replaced my shoes 2 years ago when i knew nothing about these trucks. he said my only option for replacement would be to hunt one down in a junkyard due to no availability at an auto parts store. the parking cable for the right drum snapped last june and therefore i had nothing. i bought a length of vinyl wrapped steel cable and a clamp to temporarily fix the situation. i've only got about 1" of adjustment left and i'm not doubting the cable from the pedal is stretched because of that indication. i'll have to replace it soon. and when i do, all 3 will get replaced.

 

Most of the cables will twist when applied.
Remember - the cable is twisted wire. When you apply tension the cable will try to untwist.

Mine rides close enough to the frame it move some but doesn't rotate more than 90*.

It could also be the cable are applying different tension to the right and left brakes...The right brake has a longet cable.

 

^^ true. you could clamp a new stop on the other cable to take up the slack in it for now.